Twenty(ish) years ago I welcomed this prequel with mixed feelings. On the one hand, the thought of getting an inside look at some of the events that preceded The Eye of the World was intriguing. On the other hand, I already knew the main outline of the story from Jordan’s 1999 version of this story in Legends. Mostly, I wanted Robert Jordan to get working on book 11!

New Spring is interesting, mostly for young Moiraine’s point of view when meeting Lan. The promise of two more prequel novels that would continue their story were unfortunately unrealized due to Jordan’s death.

Aside from a few thrilling moments (such as the foretelling of the Dragon Reborn), New Spring reads like one of the more uneventful sections in one of Jordan’s longer novels. If you’re reading “The Eye of the World,” you should read this—just don’t expect too much.

Jordan, Robert. New Spring. TOR, 2004.